Of the five skills that the Centre teaches HQ is the one most shrouded in mystery. GM Tse says that it is not for everyone – but if you want to go deeper and really see what your body is capable of then this is the way.
GM Tse started the seminar with a lecture on the differences between hard and soft styles of Qigong. He explained that soft qigong is for good health, healing and spiritual development like opening the sky eye. HQ on the other hand will make you super healthy. It will make your body able to withstand strikes and blows and make you very physically strong. HQ trains the external and internal together – strengthening the tendons, bones and skin while also developing Jing, Qi and Shen.
HQ also has its dangers. This is no wonder, considering how powerful it is. GM Tse emphasised that we must develop step by step and slowly build the repetitions and gradually increase the intensity, all the while listening to our bodies. There is also a long set of rules for how to practice and what to avoid. These rules apply when preparing for the HQ test as this is an intense daily practice for 100 days. As such, any little imbalance can be multiplied greatly, or you can end up wasting your practice by leaking Qi in various ways.
After the lecture GM Tse began by demonstrating two movements that need to be done after practicing. These are needed to cool down and settle the energy. Without these exercises, your energy will dissipate out of the body or you run the risk of creating too much fire – negatively affecting your emotions and energetic balance. With these exercises in place as safeguards, we were ready to begin learning the special breathing techniques that make up the heart of HQ practice. These techniques are very powerful, even without doing any movements, and work to gather or move Qi in various ways.
At the end of the seminar most people felt hot and buzzing. There was also a lot of excitement about finally getting started again and for first-timers the allure of having a taste of something new and secretive. Now we can all look forward to the next seminar and in the meantime work to polish and develop all that we have learnt.
by Paul Hogg